Dallas police were searching for a gunman after an officer was wounded early Tuesday in northeast Dallas.

Officer Matthew Wagner was working an off-duty security job at the Wildflower Apartments in the 6000 block of Pineland Drive, near Park Lane and Greenville Avenue, when he approached a man outside the complex about midnight.

The man shot Wagner, a four-year veteran of the department, twice. An officer who reportedly was working with Wagner was not injured. As is common practice, the officers were wearing their uniforms even though they were off duty.

Wagner was in stable condition after he was rushed in a squad car to Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas, near Walnut Hill Lane and Greenville.

One of the bullets reportedly shattered a bone in his arm, and the other lodged in his groin after striking his pepper spray canister.

"We are blessed Officer Wagner did not sustain more serious injuries," Police Chief David Brown said at a 4 a.m. news conference.

No information about what led to the confrontation had been released, though police said the man had been behaving suspiciously.

Officers were searching for the gunman in and around the apartment complex, as well as in a nearby wooded area.